Electronic mail system, method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to an electronic mail system that is configured to filter transmissions such that the subscriber of the electronic mail account does not receive unsolicited, or undesired transmissions. Embodiments of the electronic mail system allow for the authentication of transmission via comparison of the sender&#39;s identification to a listing of authorized identifications in an authentication database or via a subscriber defined authorization code. If the sender&#39;s identification is not found within the authentication database, the system reviews the transmission for the presence of the authorization code. If the code is not present the transmission is blocked. If the sender&#39;s identification is found in the authentication database or the code is present in the transmission, the transmission is received by the system

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention is directed to a system, method andapparatus for filtering unauthorized data and transmissions. Morespecifically, an electronic mail system that filters communications anddata from third parties, and prevents the transmission of unauthorizedcommunications and data to subscribers of the electronic mail system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Wide area networks, such as the Internet, or World Wide Web(“WWW”) provide access to users for nearly any type of information.Further, wide area networks allow for virtually instantaneoustransmission and receipt of information. In this regard, individualusers can directly communicate with each other via the wide area networkutilizing preestablished communication means, such as, e-mail or instantmessaging systems. The ability to directly communicate with family andfriends has provided a great benefit to users, and thus, most users haveestablished an electronic mail (“e-mail”) address, that is, an on-linelocation for other users to forward information.

[0003] The use of e-mail has become a widely practiced manner ofcommunicating with others Indeed, the use of e-mail has allowed familiesand friends to stay in contact more easily, with more frequency, andwithout much effort. Unfortunately, the benefits of e-mail has alsobecome apparent to merchants and vendors of a wide variety of goods andservices. Thus, e-mail lists, akin to mailing lists, are now a valuablemarketing tool as they provide direct access to users for purposes ofsolicitation.

[0004] In light of the value of e-mail lists, e-mail lists are sold forthe purpose of forwarding solicitations and advertisements. Indeed, bulke-mail, coined spam, is a common method of distributing advertisements.Due to the effortless manner in which the advertisements can bedistributed, bulk e-mail has become problematic. Indeed, the problem isso extensive that laws have been passed prohibiting ‘spamming’.

[0005] Currently, programs have been developed that attempt to filterunauthorized e-mail. In one instance, e-mail is sorted by reviewing thesubject or ‘re’ line. If the subject line contains key words, the e-mailis blocked or placed into a bulk folder, wherein the user can determinewhether to review the e-mail. Although this method of filtering e-mailsis somewhat useful, it is not completely effective. Indeed, many e-mailswith clearly identifiable marketing terms in the subject line are notremoved to the bulk folder. Further still, to avoid this filteradvertisers merely change the subject line to terms that appear to bepersonal, such as, ‘hello’, or ‘in response to your inquiry’ and thelike. Thus, many unauthorized and unwanted e-mails must still bereviewed, or minimally, sorted, by the user. In other instances, theprograms review the ‘bcc’ or ‘cc’ list. In this manner, if an extremelyhigh number of users are listed in the ‘bcc’ or ‘cc’ list, the programassumes that the current transmission is unsolicited mail or spam.

[0006] Despite the laws, and the current attempts to minimize spam, manyusers of e-mail receive, on almost a daily basis, numerous unwantede-mail. The volume of unwanted e-mail causes a plurality of problems,including, the absorption of valuable computer space and the wasting ofuser time in sorting the unwanted e-mail from the desired e-mail. A needin the industry exists for a filtering system that more effectivelyfilters and prevents the receipt of unauthorized and unwanted e-mail. Afurther need exists for a system that does not allow the sender of thee-mail the ability to mask the e-mail and bypass the filtering mechanism

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The detailed description of embodiments of the invention will bemade with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numeralsdesignate corresponding parts in the figures

[0008]FIG. 1 is a data filtering system in accordance with preferredembodiments of the invention as integrated into a network system.

[0009]FIG. 2 is a schematic of the operation of the data filteringsystem in accordance with the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0010] Embodiments of the present invention are directed to anelectronic mail system that is configured to filter transmissions suchthat the subscriber of the electronic mail account does not receiveunsolicited, or undesired transmissions. Embodiments of the electronicmail system operate on a network having a provider computer, asubscriber computer, and a transmitting computer, capable ofcommunication with each other via the network.

[0011] The electronic mail system comprises distribution members,storage members and a filtering engine. The distribution memberscomprise a receiving member and a retrieval member, wherein thereceiving member is configured to receive transmissions fromtransmitting computers. The receiving members verify authentication ofthe transmission prior to storing the transmission in a storagelocation. The retrieval member retrieves the stored transmissions forthe subscriber's review.

[0012] The storage members are databases and comprise an authenticationdatabase and a storage database. The authentication database storeslistings of sender identification, wherein only transmissions fromsenders listed in the authentication database are authorized and will bereceived by the receiving member. The storage database stores thetransmissions and other relevant information regarding the subscriber'saccount, including, the location of the account.

[0013] To authenticate a transmission, a request for authentication istransmitted by the receiving member to the filtering engine. Uponreceipt of the request for authentication, the filtering engine comparesthe sender's identification in the transmission with the authenticationdatabase If the sender's identification is contained in the listing, thetransmission is authorized.

[0014] In addition to the authentication database, the electronic mailsystem can authenticate the transmission utilizing an authorizationcode, or ‘secret’ which is chosen by the subscriber. The secret isinitially chosen when the account is established, however, the secretcan be changed at any time. If the subscriber desires to receivetransmissions from a third party not listed in the authenticationdatabase, the subscriber need only give the authorization code to thethird party The third party must include the secret within thetransmission. Upon the detection of the secret within the transmission,the filtering engine will authorize the transmission and, optionally,can add the third party identification to the subscriber's authorizationdatabase.

[0015] A feature of preferred embodiments is that members of thetransmission filtering system can designate parties from whom they willreceive information. An advantage to this feature is that the memberwill only receive information from designated parties.

[0016] A further feature of preferred embodiments is that temporarye-mail addresses can be established for a predefined amount of time. Anadvantage to this feature is that members can purchase goods andservices on-line and receive a confirmation of the order, and preventthe receipt of additional unwanted e-mail from the vendor of the productor service.

[0017] A still further feature of preferred embodiments is that memberscan change their authorization list at any time. An advantage to thisfeature is that the members can reestablish their approved receipt list.

[0018] Another feature of preferred embodiments is that the sender of amessage containing the member's secret in the subject line can,optionally, be automatically incorporated into the approved list. Anadvantage to this feature is that members are not required to constantlyupdate their approved receipt list in conjunction with distributingtheir e-mail address to a new person.

[0019] Another feature of preferred embodiments is that members canchange their filtering mechanism, that is, their ‘secret’, at any time.An advantage to this feature is that the members can automatically blockall users utilizing the secret that have not automatically beenincorporated into the approved list.

[0020] A further feature of preferred embodiments is that a member canautomatically add an e-mail address to the approved list by transmittinga message to the e-mail address. An advantage to this feature is thatthe member is not required to separately update the approved list

[0021] A still further feature of preferred embodiments is that e-mailmessages not containing the secret in the subject line or from a sendernot on the approved list will be blocked by the filtering system. Anadvantage to this feature is that the member of the filtering systemwill not receive e-mail messages from non-authorized senders and therebyreduce, or even eliminate, the amount of undesired e-mail.

[0022] Another feature of preferred embodiments is that an e-mailaddress on the approved list can be suspended, or blocked, withoutremoving the e-mail address from the approved list. An advantage to thisfeature is that the member can activate and de-activate e-mail addressesat will without the requirement of changing the secret or sending ane-mail to the address to reactivate the address.

[0023] The above and other advantages of embodiments of this inventionwill be apparent from the following more detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is intended that theabove advantages can be achieved separately by different aspects of theinvention and that additional advantages of this invention will involvevarious combinations of the above independent advantages such thatsynergistic benefits may be obtained from combined techniques.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0024] Preferred embodiments of the instant invention operate on anetwork, such as, for example, the Internet or World Wide Web (“WWW”),or any other type of network system, including, an internet or anintranet.

[0025] Hardware Environment:

[0026] Preferred embodiments of the instant invention operate inaccordance with a plurality of networked computers, such as, forexample, a user or subscriber computer and a provider computer which arecoupled together on a communications network, such as, for example, theInternet or a wide area network. FIG. 1 depicts a network system 10 thatoperates in accordance with preferred embodiments of the invention. Inpreferred embodiments, the network system 10 includes a server computer12, or a provider computer, a subscriber computer 14, a third party ortransmitting computer 16, wherein the provider computer 12, thesubscriber computer 14 and the transmitting computer 16 are inelectronic communication with each other via a communication link 18. Inpreferred embodiments, a third party provider computer 15 is also inelectronic communication with the network system 10.

[0027] In some preferred embodiments, the network system 10 includes aplurality of either the provider computer 12, the subscriber computer 14or any combination thereof. The provider computer 12, or server, maycomprise any suitable network device capable of providing content (datarepresenting text, hypertext, photographs, graphics video and/or audio)for communication over the network. In preferred embodiments, theprovider computer 12 comprises a programmable processor capable ofoperating in accordance with programs stored on one or more computerreadable media (for example, but not limited to, floppy disks, harddisks, random access memory RAM, CD-ROM), to provide content forcommunication to a subscriber computer 14. The provider computer 12 maycomprise, for example, but not limited to, a personal computer, amainframe computer, network computer, portable computer, personaldigital assistant (such as, a 3Com Palm Pilot), or the like. Theprovider computer 12 may include one or more internal data storagedevices (not shown) for storing content for communication to a usercomputer 14. Alternatively, or in addition, the provider computer 12 maybe coupled to an external data storage device, computer or other means(not shown) from which the provider computer 12 may obtain content forcommunication to the subscriber computer 14. In one embodiment, theexternal device may comprise a further network device coupled in thenetwork 18. The provider computer 12 is controlled by suitable softwareto provide the requested content to the requesting subscriber computer14, provided that various criteria are met.

[0028] In a preferred wide area network environment, such as theInternet environment, the provider computer 12 is controlled by suitablesoftware to respond to a valid request for content by providing (ordownloading) data to the subscriber computer 14 from which the requestwas made. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that thisprocess involves communications through suitable servers, routers andother components, as is dictated by the particular network environment.

[0029] The provider computer 12 operates with a persistent storage means(not shown), for example, one or more of the fixed and/or removable datastorage devices and/or data communications devices connected to thecomputer. The communication link 18 may include a public network, suchas the Internet, a local area network, or any other suitablecommunications connection, hardwired, wireless, or a hybrid thereof

[0030] The subscriber computer 14 may comprise any suitable networkdevice capable of communicating with other network devices in thenetwork system. In preferred embodiments, each subscriber computercomprises a programmable processor capable of operating in accordancewith programs stored on one or more computer readable media (forexample, but not limited to floppy disc, hard disc, computer network,random access memory (RAM), CD Rom, or the like), a display device forproviding a user-perceivable display (for example, but not limited tovisual displays, such as cathode ray tube CRT displays,light-emitting-diode LED or liquid-crystal-diode LCD displays, plasmadisplays or the like, audio displays or tactile displays), and a userinput device (for example, but not limited to, a keyboard, mouse,microphone, or the like). In one preferred embodiment, at least onesubscriber computer comprises a personal computer system having a CRTdisplay, a keyboard and a mouse user-input device.

[0031] The subscriber computer 14 is controlled by suitable software,including network communication and browser software to allow a user torequest, receive and display information (or content) from or through aprovider computer 12 on the network system 10. The subscriber computer14 operates in accordance with programs stored on a readable medium,including, but not limited to, floppy disks, hard disks, RAM and CD-ROM.The subscriber computer 14 is any means capable of communicating withthe provider computer 12, including, but not limited, to personalcomputers, kiosks and ATM-type machines. The subscriber computer 14accesses the provider computer 12 via the wide area network or throughsome other remote access, such as, for example, by telephone, facsimile,personal digital assistant, pulse code system, web TV, or any otherdevice or method that communicates alpha numeric data with a server.

[0032] The transmitting computer 16 is similar to the subscribercomputer 14, and thus, the description set forth above is applicable tothe transmitting computer 16. In preferred embodiments, although thetransmitting computer 16 is configured to access the provider computer12, the transmitting computer 16, generally, simply forwards datatransmissions via a third party provider computer 17, wherein thetransmission is forward to the provider computer 12 by predefinedInternet protocol. It is to be understood that the transmitting computer16 can access the wide area network via other provider computers, andthe configuration of FIG. 1 is intended to be only illustrative.

[0033] General Description Of Preferred Embodiments:

[0034] Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method,apparatus and system for filtering unauthorized data. More specifically,embodiments of the present invention are directed to an electronic mailsystem that filters communications and data from third parties, andprevents the transmission of unauthorized data to subscribers of theelectronic mail system

[0035] With reference again to FIG. 1, the electronic mail systemoperates on a network having a provider computer 12, at least one clientor subscriber computer 14, and a third party or transmitting computer16. The electronic mail system comprises distribution members 22, 24storage databases 26, 28 and a filtering engine 30 coupled together inelectronic communication with each other and the provider computer 12.

[0036] The distribution members comprise at least one receiving member22 and at least one retrieval member 24. It is to be understood that insome preferred embodiment the electronic mail system includes aplurality of receiving members or a plurality of retrieval members, orany combination thereof In preferred embodiments, the receiving member22 is a server, or any other suitable apparatus, including, but notlimited to, a personal computer, a mainframe computer, network computer,portable computer, or the like, capable of receiving data transmissionfrom transmitting computers 16. In some preferred embodiments, thereceiving members 22 are simple mail transfer protocol (“SMTP”) servers,wherein the SMTP servers are configured in accordance with the SMTPstandard known by those reasonably skilled in the art. The SMTP serversare the ‘front end’ apparatuses that accept data transmissions, forexample, electronic mail, from third parties and forward thetransmissions to appropriate storage locations for later retrieval.

[0037] The retrieval members 24 are considered the ‘back end’ of thesystem and facilitate the retrieval of the mail by the user, orsubscriber, that has been stored by the SMTP servers. The retrievalmember is a server, or any suitable apparatus, including, but notlimited to, a personal computer, a mainframe computer, network computer,portable computer, or the like, capable of retrieving the previouslystored transmissions for the subscriber. In one preferred embodiment,the retrieval member is a POP server, wherein the POP server isconfigured in accordance with the POP standard known by those reasonablyskilled in the art. The POP servers also forward electronic mailoriginating from the subscribers to the wide area network, such as theInternet In addition to retrieving electronic mail stored on the system,the POP servers are configured to retrieved electronic mail from otherelectronic mail services, such as, Yahoo!, to which the subscriber is amember. In some preferred embodiments, the mail is retrieved in bulk andreviewed for authenticity prior to being stored in the system storagelocations.

[0038] The storage databases comprise an authentication database 26 anda storage database 28 The authentication database 26 and storagedatabases 28 are file servers for storing information. Theauthentication database 26 stores the approved sender's identification,wherein approval indicates that a data transmission will be accepted bythe system. As will be discussed below, information contained in theauthentication database 24 can be entered manually by the subscriber, orcan be automatically updated.

[0039] The storage database 28 stores system mailboxes, mail queues, andauxiliary files associated with the electronic mail service. Mailreceived by the SMTP servers is stored in the storage databases 28,wherein prior to storage of the received mail, the sender of the datatransmission is authenticated by the filtering system via the filteringengine 30.

[0040] The filtering engine 30 is a software program configured todetermine whether a transmission is authorized. Upon receipt of atransmission from the SMTP servers, the filtering engine compares thesender's identification, such as, a user name, associated with thetransmission with the list of authorized identifications in theauthentication database 26. If the sender's identification is containedin the list, the filtering engine 30 transmits an authorizationnotification to the SMTP server. Upon receipt of the authorizationnotification, the SMTP server 22 stores the transmission in the storagedatabase 28 for later retrieval. If the sender's identification is notcontained in the list, the filtering engine 30 reviews the transmissionfor an authorization code (discussed below). If the authorization codeis present within the transmission, the filtering engine 30 transmits anauthorization notification to the SMTP server 22 so that thetransmission can be stored. If the filtering engine 30 does not find thesender's identification in the authentication database, nor theauthorization code within the transmission, the filtering engine 30transmits a non-authorization message to the SMTP server 22. The SMTPserver, in turn, blocks the transmission from entering the electronicmail system and transmits a ‘transmission unacceptable’ notice back tothe sender.

[0041] Prior to the system being utilized by a subscriber, thesubscriber must register with the electronic mail system and establishan account. To register with the electronic mail system, the subscriberaccesses the mail system via an interface, such as a web page,transmitted to the subscriber by the provider computer 12. The interfaceincludes a ‘sign-Up’ button, or any other interface that may besuitable. Upon depression of the ‘Sign-Up’ button, a sign up page istransmitted to the subscriber, wherein the subscriber inputs identifyinginformation, including, but not limited to, a user name, or other uniqueidentification, and a password. In one preferred embodiment, theinformation is input via input boxes. Once the subscriber is satisfiedthat the input information is accurate, the subscriber submits theinformation to the system via a ‘submit’ button. The submittedinformation is then transmitted to the storage database 28.

[0042] Once the subscriber has established or opened an account, thesubscriber inputs a list of authorized sender identifications, such as,a list of authorized user names, wherein each sender identificationreflects an electronic mail account from which the subscriber is willingto accept data transmissions, commonly referred to as an address book.The sender identifications are stored in the authentication database 26.

[0043] In addition to the list of authorized sender identification, thesubscriber inputs a ‘secret’. The ‘secret’ is an authorization code thatcan be used by the subscriber to authorize third parties not yet listedin the authentication database to transmit information to thesubscriber. In this manner, the subscriber does not need to constantlyupdate the authentication database, but rather, can simply provide thethird party the secret. For the third party's transmission to beauthorized, the sender must include the ‘secret’ within the transmissionin a predefined place. In one preferred embodiment, the secret must becontained within the subject line or ‘re’ line of the transmission. Thesecret can be any combination of lettering, numbers, symbols and thelike, such as, for example, the subscriber's birth date, parent's name,or completely arbitrary combination. In some preferred embodiments, auser forwarding a transmission containing the secret can beautomatically added to the authentication database. In other preferredembodiments, the user's identification is not automatically included inthe authentication database and the user must always use the secret intransmissions. This allows the member more control in the use of thesecret, as it allows the secret to be changed and automatically blockall users utilizing the secret without the need to amend theauthentication database.

[0044] The subscriber is allowed to use the account directly, inconjunction with a separate electronic mail account, or a combination ofboth. If the subscriber utilizes the account directly, the subscribercan transmit and receive electronic mail in the account. If thesubscriber utilizes the account in conjunction with a separate, butrelated account, for example, a Yahoo! account, the subscriber canreceive electronic transmissions in the separate account and retrievethe messages via the filtering system account. In this manner, themember is not required to reestablish an electronic mail address, butcan maintain preexisting addresses and simply access them from onelocation. During registration, or any time thereafter, the memberprovides a list of electronic mail accounts that the user desires toaccess from the filtering system. Thus, upon access to the filteringsystem, the member can choose, via a pull down list or other suitablemeans, the address location to access. When the member accesses thechosen mail account, the filtering system downloads the transmission inthat box utilizing the preestablished filters.

[0045] If the user uses the account in conjunction with a separateaccount, the subscriber must also provide the electronic mail filteringsystem with the user name and password for the separate account. In thisregard, when the subscriber attempts to access the account via the POPservers to retrieve the data transmissions submitted to the separateaccount, that is, the electronic mail, the filtering system can accessand retrieve the data transmissions stored in the separate account. Onceall the transmissions are retrieved, the POP server transmits a requestfor authentication to the filtering engine 30. Upon receipt of therequest, the filtering engine 30 authenticates each transmissionretrieved from the separate account. If the transmission is acceptable,the transmission is placed in the subscriber's inbox for review. If thetransmission is not accepted, an unauthorized transmission message isforwarded to the sender and the message is discarded and not stored.

[0046] As shown from the discussion above, the accuracy and usefulnessof the filters to block unwanted transmissions is dependent, in part,upon the accuracy of the authentication database 26. To facilitate themanagement of the account, preferred embodiments of the electronic mailsystem includes various management features that minimize thesubscriber's requirement to update information. For example, asdiscussed, to receive a transmission from a sender, the sender's username must be included within the authentication database. Updating theauthentication database can be cumbersome. Thus, in preferredembodiments, in addition to manually amending the database, a subscribercan update the authentication database by transmitting a message to athird party not listed in the authentication database. As the subscriberattempts to transmit the message, the POP server reviews the recipient'suser name, and compares the recipient's user name to those contained inthe authentication database. If the user name is not included, the POPserver transmits the user name to the authentication database forinclusion. In some preferred embodiments, an indicator, such as a checkbox, is included in the transmitted message if the subscriber does notwant to update the authentication database. In this manner, the user canforward an electronic message to a recipient, but not agree to receivetransmissions from the recipient. For example, a salesman, such as a carsalesman, asks the subscriber to indicate by a particular time if theyare interested in a vehicle. The subscriber can obtain the electronicmail address for the salesman and respond without exposing hiselectronic mail account to undesired solicitation or repetitiveinquiries regarding purchasing the vehicle.

[0047] In addition to automatically updating the authenticationdatabase, the subscriber can suspend a user name without deleting thename. In this manner, as the name has not been deleted, the subscribercan later remove-the suspension of the user name without having totransmit an electronic transmission or provide the user with the secret.In some preferred embodiments, a box can be checked to signify that theuser is suspended. Further still, as discussed above, the subscriber canchange the ‘secret’ at any time. In embodiments wherein theidentification of the user utilizing the secret is not automaticallyadded to the authentication database, if the secret has become known,the subscriber can automatically, and without effort, block undesiredtransmissions by changing the secret and thereby avoid having to amendthe authentication database by deleting or suspending the user name(s)that obtained the secret erroneously or otherwise.

[0048] In addition to the features discussed above, the electronic mailsystem allows the subscriber to temporarily establish an electronic mailaddress. The electronic mail address can be established for a predefinedperiod of time and is not connected to the authentication database Thus,any recipients receiving transmissions from the subscriber through thetemporary mail address will not be updated into the authenticationdatabase. In this manner, a subscriber can conduct transactions on-linewithout fear of exposing the electronic mail account to unendingsolicitations and unsolicited transmissions. Thus, for example, thetemporary electronic mail account allows subscribers to order itemson-line, or register on-line and receive a confirmation for theirtransactions. Once the predefined time period has expired, anytransmission emanating from the temporary e-mail account will be blockedand no longer accepted.

[0049] With reference to FIG. 2, in operation, a subscriber registerswith the transmission filtering system and establishes an authorizedlist of user names in the authentication database and an authorizationcode, or secret 32. A third party or transmitting computer forwards atransmission to the subscriber or client computer 34. If thesubscriber's receiving address is an account maintained by thetransmission filtering system, the transmission is received at theprovider computer's SMTP servers 36. Upon receipt of the transmission,SMTP servers transmit a request for authentication of the transmissionto the filtering engine. In response to the request for authentication,the filtering engine determines whether the transmission is authorized38 by comparing the user name to the list of authorized users in theauthentication database. If the user name is not found in the list ofauthorized user names, the filtering engine reviews the transmission todetermine whether the authorization code is contained within thetransmission, such as in the subject line. If the transmission isauthorized, the transmission is stored in the storage database 40. Ifthe transmission is not authorized, an unauthorized transmission messageis transmitted to the sender and the transmission is discarded 42.

[0050] If the subscriber's receiving address does not reflect an accountmaintained by the electronic mail filtering system, for example, aYahoo! account, the transmission is received by the SMTP servers of therelated account and is stored on the storage locations of the relatedaccount 44. When the subscriber desires to retrieve the storedtransmissions on the related account, the subscriber can log into theelectronic mail filtering system. Upon logging into the account, the POPservers retrieve the transmissions stored in the related account,wherein the POP servers utilize the subscriber's name and password forthat account 46. Once the POP servers retrieve the transmissions, priorto storing the transmissions in the storage database or transmittingthem to the subscriber's inbox, the POP servers transmit a request forauthentication to the filtering engine. Upon receipt of the request, thefiltering engine compares the user names of each message to theauthentication database 48. If the user name is not contained within theauthentication database, the filtering engine reviews the transmissionfor the secret 48. If authorization can be confirmed, as discussedabove, the transmission is stored in the storage database andtransmitted to the subscriber's inbox 50. If authorization cannot beestablished, an unauthorized transmission message is forwarded to thesender and the message is discarded 52

[0051] Although the foregoing described the invention with preferredembodiments, this is not intended to limit the invention. Indeed, it isto be understood that embodiments of the invention allow for partialblocking of transmissions as well as completely blocking the receipt ofall unsolicited transmissions. In some preferred embodiments, a membercan establish a ‘junk’ mail box, wherein, if desired, the member canreview all of the blocked transmissions. In this manner, the system isonly partially blocking the transmission in that the member canvoluntarily review the blocked mail in a secondary location. In additionto the above described embodiments, the foregoing is intended to coverall modifications and alternative constructions falling within thespirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims,wherein no portion of the disclosure is intended, expressly orimplicitly, to be dedicated to the public domain if not set forth in theclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for filtering transmitted data on acomputer network having a provider computer, a client computer and atransmitting computer, wherein the provider computer, the clientcomputer and the transmitting computer are in communicationtherebetween, and wherein the transmitting computer includes a sourceidentification, the method comprising: defining a filtering mechanism bythe client computer, wherein the presence of the filtering mechanism intransmitted data authorizes the receipt of the data by the clientcomputer, defining a list of authorized source identifications fromwhich the client computer accepts data transmissions; receiving, by theprovider computer from the transmitting computer, a data transmission;determining whether the data transmission is authorized; and if the datatransmission is authorized providing the data transmission from theprovider computer to the client computer; if the data transmission isunauthorized, preventing the transmission of the data transmission fromthe provider computer to the client computer.
 2. A method as claimed inclaim 1, wherein determining whether the data transmission is authorizedcomprises determining whether the filtering mechanism is present in thedata transmission.
 3. A method as claimed in claim 2, further comprisingadding the source identification of the transmitting computer to thelist of authorized sources if the filtering mechanism is present in thedata transmission.
 4. A method as claimed in claim 1, whereindetermining whether the data transmission is authorized comprisescomparing the source identification of the transmitting computer to thelist of authorized source identifications.
 5. A method as claimed inclaim 1 further comprising updating the list of authorized sourceidentifications by transmitting a data transmission from the clientcomputer to the transmitting computer, wherein upon the transmission ofdata from the client computer the source identification of thetransmitting computer is added to the list of authorized sourceidentifications.
 6. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprisingtransmitting, from the provider computer to the transmitting computer, anotification that the transmitted data was not received by the clientcomputer if the data transmission by the transmitting computer isdetermined to be unauthorized.
 7. A method as claimed in claim 1 furthercomprising suspending at least one authorized source identification onthe list, wherein the suspension of the source identification preventsthe receipt of a data transmission from that source identification tothe client computer, and wherein suspension of the source identificationdoes not remove the source identification from the list of authorizedsource identifications.
 8. A system for filtering transmitted data on acomputer network having a provider computer, a client computer and atransmitting computer, wherein the provider computer, the clientcomputer and the transmitting computer are in communicationtherebetween, and wherein the transmitting computer includes a sourceidentification, the system comprising: a filtering code, wherein thefiltering code is defined by the client computer, and wherein thepresence of the filtering code in transmitted data authorizes thereceipt of the data by the client computer; a list of authorized sourceidentifications from which the client computer accepts datatransmissions; means for receiving, by the provider computer from thetransmitting computer, a data transmission; and a filtering engine,wherein the filtering engine is configured to determine whether the datatransmission is authorized and, based upon the determination, transmitthe data to the client computer or prevent the transmission of the datatransmission to the client computer.
 9. A system for filteringtransmitted data as claimed in claim 7, wherein to determine whether thetransmission is authorized the filtering engine determines whether thefiltering code is present or whether the transmission is from anauthorized source identification.
 10. A system for filtering transmitteddata as claimed in claim 8, further comprising a means for suspendingthe receipt of transmissions from a specific source identification onthe list of authorized source identifications.
 11. A system forfiltering transmitted data as claimed in claim 8, further comprising ameans for identifying a plurality of electronic accounts, and means foraccessing the plurality of electronic accounts, wherein the identifiedelectronic accounts store received transmissions for the clientcomputer.
 12. A system for filtering transmitted data as claimed inclaim 1 1, wherein the electronic accounts are electronic mail accountsresiding on third party provider computers